College orientation is emphasized more than ever

Tuesday

Jul 20, 2010 at 7:58 AMJul 20, 2010 at 7:58 AM

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

CHICAGO • A generation ago, college orientation was a perfunctory affair, lasting little more than a day. The focus was on registering for classes and buying textbooks. If parents were needed at all, it was primarily for their wallets.

Now, universities are putting more emphasis on this annual ritual than ever before, hoping that time and energy expended during the summer will boost student success and avert problems during the school year.

At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, for example, orientation lasts 2 /2 days and includes a separate program for parents, increased from one day to two in 2006. DePaul University also has beefed up its sessions, with an overnight stay to help establish a sense of community right from the start. Two years ago, the University of Minnesota tacked on a "Welcome Week" for freshmen on top of the traditional midsummer confab.

The expansion is needed, say administrators, to address a range of topics that didn't exist or weren't discussed much a decade ago: illegal downloads, sexting, plagiarism, credit card abuse — along with more concern about alcoholism, eating disorders and other mental health issues.

Rolling out the welcome mat also builds a relationship with Mom and Dad, who have been much more involved in their kids' lives than previous generations.

"We recognize that the issues of transition are much greater than just academics," said Jennifer Weed, DePaul's associate director for new student programs.

But all the front- end investment has a bottom-line payoff as well. Some schools lose as much as 40 percent of incoming freshmen, said the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. It's more cost-effective to spend resources on retaining current students than on recruiting new ones.

"If you hurry through this, what happens when students have their first crisis? They quit ... they transfer," said Dan Saracino, the University of Notre Dame's recently retired admissions director. "To spend an extra day to improve the likelihood of staying is just good business."

The University of Minnesota — with an enrollment of 51,000 — is seeing results. The retention rate for the class entering in fall 2005 was 86.2 percent. After implementing Welcome Week in 2008, the number inched past 90 percent — a first, according to admissions director Wayne Sigler, who attributes the uptick, in part, to the early hospitality.

Additionally, freshmen in the College of Biological Sciences are treated to their own three-day retreat about 220 miles north of the Twin Cities campus, where they get to hobnob not only with peers, but with faculty.

"This program helps new students from day one get really excited about biology," Sigler said. "It's all about getting off to a great start academically and ... putting down roots."

Alli Fischer, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., didn't know a soul at Minnesota but agreed that the outreach helped make a big school smaller. The Welcome Week ranged from serious subjects to "cheesy" ice-breaker games, such as introducing yourself using an adjective that starts with the same letter as your first name.

"To this day, when I see a guy on campus, I'll say, 'Hi, Crazy Chris.' It's like we have this little bond," said Fischer, now a junior, who was so sold on the concept that she volunteered to be a leader the following summer.